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Three People Sent to Prison in China Over iPad 2 Leaks

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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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ipad_2_hand.jpg

The Wall Street Journal reports that three people have been sent to prison in China over their roles in facilitating leaks of information on the iPad 2 prior to its release.
The court announced the decision Tuesday in statements on its official account at Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging service in China. It said that Xiao Chengsong, general manager of Shenzhen MacTop Electronics Co., had offered 20,000 yuan, or about $3,000, plus discounts on MacTop products to a former Hon Hai employee named Hou Pengna, for information about the iPad 2. The court said Ms. Hou then paid Lin Kecheng, a Hon Hai research-and-development employee, to get digital images of the device's back cover from last September, six months before the iPad 2 was publicly announced.
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The three people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 12 to 18 months and are subject to fines ranging from approximately $4,500 to $23,000.

Cases for the iPad 2 began appearing on Chinese supply sites four months ahead of Apple's official unveiling, and it was revealed in late April that three workers had been arrested in connection with the leak soon after those initial cases appeared. The employees cited in that report had been claimed to be Foxconn employees and are presumed to be the same ones sentenced to prison in the new report, although only two of them were actually Foxconn employees while the the third was manager of the case manufacturing company that solicited the information.

Article Link: Three People Sent to Prison in China Over iPad 2 Leaks
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/15/three-people-sent-to-prison-in-china-over-ipad-2-leaks/
L

levitynyc

macrumors 65816
Aug 19, 2006
1,123
3,704
Do they jail US Apple employees for leaks?

I'd hate to be in a Chinese prison for any duration.
 
G

Gamoe

macrumors regular
Sep 19, 2006
246
0
levitynyc said:
I'd hate to be in a Chinese prison for any duration.
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I dont know, but being imprisoned for anything but a violent crime seems overly harsh to me.*

* Of course, this is not the way most governments, including the U.S. government, see it. But I beg to differ.
 
wikus

wikus

macrumors 68000
Jun 1, 2011
1,795
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Planet earth.
Gamoe said:
I dont know, but being imprisoned for anything but a violent crime seems overly harsh to me.*

* Of course, this is not the way most governments, including the U.S. government, see it. But I beg to differ.
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USA still has the death sentence. I'd be very careful with comparisons.
 
S

ShiftyPig

macrumors 6502a
Aug 24, 2008
567
0
AU
Gamoe said:
I dont know, but being imprisoned for anything but a violent crime seems overly harsh to me.*

* Of course, this is not the way most governments, including the U.S. government, see it. But I beg to differ.
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Ooooohhhhhh, controversial. :rolleyes:

I can see this thread turning into a train wreck really quick.
 
J

jhvander

macrumors newbie
Apr 7, 2006
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0
Honestly, if Apple were really a great company, they'd build their hardware in countries that respect human rights. Yes, it would cost more. Think different.
 
K

kevin2i

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2011
53
0
They would be famous . . .

In the US they would get probation, maybe house arrest for a month if this was their first offense. If they were union employees, no arrests but they would probably get suspended for two months (with pay). :eek:
 
Tucom

Tucom

Cancelled
Jul 29, 2006
1,252
310
That is a bit harsh and the first thought that popped into the mind was: "Is prison in China just a different way of saying they'll never be seen again?"

Seriously though, I hope they're at least still alive by the end of their duration in jail. :eek:
 
LarryC

LarryC

macrumors 6502
Jul 19, 2002
419
33
North America
That is just too extreme in my opinion.

"prison terms ranging from 12 to 18 months and are subject to fines ranging from approximately $4,500 to $23,000."

I cannot imagine these folks being able to come up with the cash to pay their fines if the fine is as much as $23,000.00 US. This is too severe a penalty in my opinion. As someone mentioned earlier, it isn't as though anybody was murdered. I guess this is just the way it is done in China. It is very sad though.
 
ratzzo

ratzzo

macrumors 6502a
Apr 20, 2011
829
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Madrid
Well, China is a very tough country on laws.

Perhaps they agreed to this when they signed their NDA contract?
 
seamuskrat

seamuskrat

macrumors 6502a
Feb 17, 2003
898
19
New Jersey USA
jhvander said:
Honestly, if Apple were really a great company, they'd build their hardware in countries that respect human rights. Yes, it would cost more. Think different.
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I have always wished companies would offer two versions. A cheap version to be competetive and a socially conscious green version. Some customers would pay more for a product that was environmentally friendly and socially aware.

Sadly, you would need two versions as some comptitor would just make it in the third world and undersell you.

But Apple has the cachet to pull this off and create some needed jobs and pay in needed areas.
 
nwcs

nwcs

macrumors 68030
Sep 21, 2009
2,722
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Tennessee
wikus said:
USA still has the death sentence. I'd be very careful with comparisons.
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Non sequitur. It's a bad comparison for financial crimes. The comparison would properly be between the typical punishment for the same crime.
 
iCrizzo

iCrizzo

macrumors regular
Aug 4, 2010
235
3
Burlington, VT
This is clearly not something a person should sit in prison for.. so what, they leaked pictures of a tablet computer, I think firing them would probably be harsh enough, maybe even a fine but not prison!
 
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seamuskrat

seamuskrat

macrumors 6502a
Feb 17, 2003
898
19
New Jersey USA
The Chinese prison system is very different from what we know.

It is not uncommon to buy your way out. So if you are wealthy you may serve a few days and buy your freedom. For those on the lesser income curve, you may serve an extended sentence until your 'fines' are paid via labor.

Add into the equation about the quality and access to legal representation and th presumption of guilt and ability o procure evidence and you have a very different system.

That said, China has less people in prison per capita than the US, less violent crime per capita and less theft per capita. So something works.
LarryC said:
That is just too extreme in my opinion.

"prison terms ranging from 12 to 18 months and are subject to fines ranging from approximately $4,500 to $23,000."

I cannot imagine these folks being able to come up with the cash to pay their fines if the fine is as much as $23,000.00 US. This is too severe a penalty in my opinion. As someone mentioned earlier, it isn't as though anybody was murdered. I guess this is just the way it is done in China. It is very sad though.
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nwcs

nwcs

macrumors 68030
Sep 21, 2009
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jhvander said:
Honestly, if Apple were really a great company, they'd build their hardware in countries that respect human rights. Yes, it would cost more. Think different.
Click to expand...

That would be a quick way to kill the company. The number of people who will buy based upon the company's principles is far outweighed by those who only look at the price. There have been ample opportunities for people to demonstrate the opposite but it hasn't come true. Whether it's textiles, the Walmart effect, or electronics people want to pay as little as possible.
 
M

mingoglia

macrumors 6502
Dec 10, 2009
486
69
seamuskrat said:
I have always wished companies would offer two versions. A cheap version to be competetive and a socially conscious green version. Some customers would pay more for a product that was environmentally friendly and socially aware.

Sadly, you would need two versions as some comptitor would just make it in the third world and undersell you.

But Apple has the cachet to pull this off and create some needed jobs and pay in needed areas.
Click to expand...

Agree completely. I too have brought this up in the past and usually get flamed for it. Add an option on the BTO page for this "other" version and I'll gladly pay $50 more or whatever the amount is (within reason of course).
 
nwcs

nwcs

macrumors 68030
Sep 21, 2009
2,722
5,262
Tennessee
seamuskrat said:
That said, China has less people in prison per capita than the US, less violent crime per capita and less theft per capita. So something works.
Click to expand...

Depends on how you look at the statistics. I'd wager there is a much higher proportion of people living in unpoliced rural areas in China than in the US. Per capita should be measured by comparable cities not nationally. For anything meaningful, anyway.
 
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